Remaking History Introducing the British Monarchs Collection

Over the course of time, the thrones of the British Isles have seen a cornucopia of rulers, from legendary kings and revolutionary queens to forgotten monarchs all but lost to the pages of history. With an unrivalled and majestic legacy, the stories that follow the Crown are fascinating tales of power, triumph and tragedy, and provide an incredible insight into British royalty through the ages.

In celebration of this unparalleled saga of sovereignty, The British Monarchs Collection pays tribute to some of the most iconic, beloved and notorious kings and queens to rule the British Isles. As we breathe new life into the classic coin designs of each monarch’s respective reign using state-of-the-art numismatic technology, this innovative, five-year collection will see 21 British monarchs resurrected through coinage.

Featuring kings and queens from four royal dynasties – Tudor, Stuart, Hanoverian and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Windsor – each year will see the launch of four new coins. Whilst coin design has developed exponentially since the respective reigns of these various monarchs – particularly those of the Tudor and Jacobean era – each obverse design has been painstakingly recreated to provide an authentic representation of the original design, whilst still maintaining the high standards of twenty-first-century coinage.

Released sequentially over a five-year period, these coins will combine to form a sprawling timeline of British royal history over the last 500 years. Beginning with perhaps one of the most famous – and infamous – royal houses in British history, the collection starts with the legendary founder of the Tudor dynasty – Henry VII (r. 1485–1509) – through an original portrait that first appeared on coinage during his reign. This will be followed by coins for Henry VIII (r. 1509–47), Edward VI (r. 1547–53), Mary I (r. 1553–58) and Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603) – the patriarch’s four Tudor successors.

Following the Henry VII coin, the second British Monarchs coin will see the collection step forth into the Jacobean period, as we celebrate the reign of the first Stuart king of England, James I (r. 1603–25). The self-styled ‘King of Great Britain’ was the first king to rule Scotland alongside England, Wales and Ireland simultaneously and is therefore a worthy subject matter for the second coin in this collection of revived coin designs. James I will be followed in the coming years by each of his fellow Stuart successors – Charles I (r. 1625–49), Charles II (r. 1660–85), James II (r. 1685–88), William III (r. 1689–1702) and co-monarch Mary II (r. 1689–94), and lastly Queen Anne (r. 1702–14).

The third coin in the series is dedicated to George I (r. 1714–27), who also served as ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg. George I’s reign signalled the advent of the Hanoverian period in Britain and the king was succeeded by his namesakes George II (r. 1727–60) George III (r. 1760–1820) and George IV (r. 1820–30); the subsequent reigns of William IV (r. 1830–37) and Queen Victoria (r. 1837–1901) later brought the Hanoverian era to a close. The British Monarchs Collection celebrates each of these Hanoverian monarchs in turn over the course of the collection through the designs of their respective coins.

The final royal house in the collection is the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha that became the House of Windsor from 1917. Beginning with Edward VII (r. 1901–10), this part of the collection will celebrate the crowned monarchs of the most recent and current dynasty, including George V (r. 1910–36) and George VI (r. 1936–52). The collection will reach a fitting conclusion in 2026 with a coin dedicated to the longest-reigning monarch in British history – Her Late Majesty The Queen (r. 1952–2022).

In addition to these individual coins, we will also be releasing a variety of sets combining new and historic coins. These limited-edition sets will feature a British Monarch's coins alongside a genuine historical coin from the era of that respective monarch.